The Vigilante
by kerosto929
Summary: Sarah, James, and Henri are going to Richmond, VA to get the story of a masked vigilante who has been taking justice into his own hands. While they are there, the trio stays with an old friend of Sarah's.
1. Chapter 1

**My little sister insisted that I post this story, so here it is! I hope you enjoy it.**

"How much longer until we arrive, Sarah?" complained a tired and sore Henri, who was traveling with his two friends, James and Sarah.

"Patience is a virtue, Henri, and it would be best for you to learn it." Sarah replied "We are not far off from Richmond."

"Why can't we be there now?" Henri whined again as he slumped down the side of the cart.

"Just be thankful that you don't have to walk, Henri." Sarah scolded. "Moses almost didn't let us go after he heard where we were going, but this story is too good!"

"Yeah, then we'd have to hear you _and_ Sarah complain the entire trip." James quipped, causing Henri to break out in laughter.

Sarah frowned "I do hope you are not this rude once we reach the Hill's house. They were so gracious as to let us stay with them while we report in Richmond. And, besides, Rebbeckah Hill is an old friend of mine and I would hate to bring unpleasant guests into her household." Sarah looked as if she was about to explode, or at least as close to exploding as her polite upbringing would allow.

"If you guys are close friends, I'm sure that her opinion of us won't affect your friendship." James input, hoping to calm Sarah down. "Besides, we won't be this bad once we get there." Sarah looked at him questionably, but decided to let it be. They all rode the rest of the ride in silence.

Soon, they arrived at the house. It was just outside New York with a big southern style porch and two levels of a pale brick house. Each window was perfectly adorned with light green shutters and maroon curtains. There were evenly trimmed bushes all around the house and a garden on the front side. As James, Sarah, and Henri approached the front porch, James noticed weeds in the garden, peeking out of the ground, just as the gardener yanked them out of the ground.

The door swung open, revealing an older woman, in her late thirties, dressed in an elegant dress with lace trimming every edge and a big bow in the front. She wore a tight cap upon her head, also adorned with lace. Her face showed signs of aging, but her warm smile erased any evidence of it.

"Welcome Sarah!"

**If you guys liked it let me know via PM or a review and I'll post more of the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Don't forget to review.**

"Of course I do, Mrs. Hill. What kind of a person would I be if I didn't remember the name of the woman who so graciously is allowing my friends and me to stay with her?" Sarah replied, curtsying slightly. "Oh, where are my manners, these are James and Henri, friends of mine." After a quick jab from Sarah, James quickly replied "Yes, thank you so much for letting us stay with you."

"Do not worry, it is no trouble to have you stay here, after all, any friend of the Phillips' is a friend of the Hills." Mrs. Hill glanced upstairs "I am terribly sorry Sarah, it seems my daughter has forgotten that you were coming today, although I have no idea how; she has been excited for weeks."

The sound of footsteps echoed in the house as someone new came into view. "SARAH!" she shrieked as a blur of a purple dress came rushing towards Sarah.

"Rebbekcah!" exclaimed Sarah as she was violently hugged and exploded into a fit of giggles with her old friend while James and Henri simply stepped back, confused as to what was happening.

She wore a simple purple dress, no lace or frivolities, except for a single bow in her long hair. She looked slightly older than Sara, but she didn't act like it.

"Rebbeckah!" her mother scolded," no need to be so loud and rambunctious."

"Mother, please, it has been a long time since I have seen Sarah. Am I not allowed to express my happiness?"

"Of course you can, just be more polite about it."

"Sorry" Rebbeckah turned up her nose and dawned a snobbish face "Why my dear Sarah" she said in a nasily tone "what a delight it is to see you." Her mother sighed, turned, and left.

Henri giggled and whispered to James "they remind me of you and Sarah." A dirty look from James and his giggling instantly stopped.

"And who might these fine young gentlemen be" Rebbeckah stated, continuing her manner from before.

"This might be James and I might be Henri." Henri replied, puffing out his chest "Henri Richard Maurice Dutoit LiFevbre**." **

"Well, Monsieur Henri, tis an honor and a true delight to be graced with your presence, as well as Mr. James."

Henri smirked, "I like your friend. Why is it that she is fun and you are not?" This resulted in a very angry glare from Sarah and an unsuccessfully stifled giggle from Rebbeckah.

"You would be surprised how fun your friend used to be back in England." Rebbeckah replied glancing at her blushing friend.

"I was a foolish child then and have since grown up. Besides you had your fair share of childhood follies."

"Who says I still don't?" Rebbeckah smirked and gave a little wink to her friend.

"Oh please, you're 17 years old. I highly doubt that you are still running around, climbing up trees, and tearing your dresses."

"This is my last good one" Rebbeckah twirled "and that's only because I don't wear it other than church and when we have guests."

"Goodness gracious! Rebbekah, you really should take better care of your clothes, think of what people will say if they see you running around looking like a wild child."

"UGH! You sound like my mother, minus the marriage speech." The room got quiet and a few moments as people look uncomfortably at each other.

"When do you want to go into town?" Rebbeckah asked in an attempt to diffuse the tense atmosphere.

"After we settle in." Sara said

"Right, Sara, your room is upstairs and two doors down on the right. It's right next to mine! James and Henri your rooms are at the end of the hallway on the left, right across from each other. Do you need any help with your bags?"

The trio looked down at the small bags they held in their hands "No, we're fine." James said as he walked past their hostess.

He opened the door to his and Henri's room, it was simple with an elegant touch. A bed sat next to a window with curtains and a night stand with a lantern; across the room, an armoire for clothes stood. The walls were a golden color with red trim and there was a small desk to the right of the armoire.

"Oh, and don't open the door across from yours, that's my brother's room and he isn't too fond of anyone going in there. Also my mother's bedroom is at the end of the right wing hallway, try not to bother her. If you need anything, come to me." Rebbeckah quickly explained before grabbing Sarah's arm and pulling her back to the right wing.

"Hey, Sarah-" James began before being interrupted.

"Come on Sara, I can't wait to show you your room and help you unpack!" Rebbeckah exclaimed as Sarah looked back towards James and gave him a quick smile.

"One more thing, dinner is at 7; dress nicely." Rebbeckah shouted without even turning around as she, along with Sarah, disappeared into what James assumed was Sarah's room.

"I like Rebbeckah, she's fun!" Henri stated as he jumped onto his bed.

"She's acting like a child." James pouted as he sat down at the desk and unpacked his writing materials.

"JAMES" Henri whined "you're just jealous, besides these beds are so soft! Just sit down on it and feel for yourself."

"I am not jealous, Henri. I am just too mature to enjoy her childish antics."

"First of all, you are just using the words Sarah wrote down for you to use in your articles and I don't even know what that means, so there! And second, you are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"AM NOT!"

"Are too."

"I am not! Besides, why would I be jealous of her?"

"Because you think Sarah will want to spend more time with her more than you." They sat in silence as James stared at Henri. After a while, he got up from the desk and began to unpack the rest of his items.

"I'm going to change." James said as he turned away from the young Frenchman.

"Don't worry James. They just haven't seen each other in a long time. Sarah still cares about you." Henri said as James finished picking out his nicer clothes from among his multitude of green vests and brown slacks.

"Aren't you going to change?" James asked Henri as he continued to rest on his bed.

"I am changed."

"You've been wearing those clothes since we left Philadelphia."

"They look clean."

"Rebbeckah said to dress nicely."

"Fine, I'll put on a clean shirt." James rolled his eyes and accepted the small victory. As he got ready for dinner, he wondered what living with this family was going to be like.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here you go. I'll try to keep up as I enter the school year. Sorry it's short.**

Dinner had been a pain for James to sit through; to his dismay, Rebbeckah's brother hardly talked at all, Sarah was busy talking with Rebbeckah and her mom, and Henri was too busy trying to eat as much as possible while still being polite to talk to James. He needed to talk to someone before he died of boredom, and since there was no way he could get a word in the conversation between the girls, he decided to try Timothy.

"You must be Timothy, I'm James. I work with Sarah, how long has your family known her?"

"A while."

James stared at the young man, waiting for him to say more. He did not.

"Sarah said that your dad is a merchant and that you used to live on the boat with him, what was that like."

"I was nice, I guess." James sighed, it was a journalists' worst interviewing nightmare. Talking to Timothy was as interesting as talking to a rock and about as informative. A good journalist could quickly recognize a bad source, but even Henri would be able to see that he would be completely useless.

James took a deep breath and turned his attention back to his plate and decided to eavesdrop on the girls' conversation.

"So, when will your father be coming home again?" Sarah asked, carefully bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth.

"Two weeks, we just received a letter from him a few days ago and he said he would be home in two weeks!" Rebbeckah exclaimed, clearly trying with all her might not to bounce up and down in her chair.

"Yes, but these expeditions tend to run into all sorts of delays, like weather and ship damage. He is almost never home on time."

"He will be here." Rebbeckah stubbornly interjected. "He said two weeks, and he will be here in two weeks."

"I'm sure he will do his best to make it home on time Rebbeckah." Sarah said in a clear attempt to avoid an awkward situation. "Do you remember Lisa?"

"How could I forget Lisa?" At this point, James once again became bored and thought back to what happened.

"Hey Timmothy, are they always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Do your mother and Rebbeckah usually fight?"

"Yeah"

"About what?"

"Depends."

"Can you give me an example?"

"Lately they've been fighting about Rebbeckah going into town."

"Why does she want to go into town?"

"She refuses to say, so mother won't let her go."

"Why won't she say?"

"I don't know, she won't say." James decided to end the conversation before he started banging his head against the table and went back to uncomfortable silent eating.

After dinner was finished; Timmothy quickly dismissed himself and went up to his room, the girls cleared the table, Sarah was trying to persuade Henri to help, and James just wanted for this trip to be over. No story was worth the antagonizing torture that was the Hall family dinner.

"James" he heard Sarah call, "come and help with the dishes."

"Sure" he replied, he knew that Sarah was only asking because she was trying to get Henri to do it by showing him that men did it too. Of course he would play along.

"Have fun James, I'm going to explore!" And Henri ran around a corner. It was only then that James realized that he had been tricked.

"Henri, get back here." Sarah demanded, but it was too late.

"Let him explore, it's not like we don't have an extra set of hands to help out, right James." Rebbeckah looked to him, stopping him in his tracks as he tried to follow the little French scallywag.

"Of course." James replied, forcing a smile onto his face as he followed the girls into the kitchen, all the while wondering if this horrendous day would ever end.


End file.
